Most Reliable New Cars and SUVs That Won't Sink Your Budget

All these high-scoring models cost less than $30,000

2022 Honda Insight
Honda Insight
Photo: Honda

An attractively priced car or SUV that’s less than reliable isn’t good for your budget. Even if it’s under warranty, you still have to spend valuable time taking it to and from the dealer for repairs. And when the warranty ends, paying for repairs is even worse.

So what are the most reliable new cars and SUVs you can buy for less than $30,000? To find out, we compiled a list of models ranked by their predicted reliability rating, which is taken from the results of Consumer Reports’ exclusive Annual Auto Surveys.

To filter the list, we focused on the price paid for the model we tested, because we buy cars that are popularly equipped. These vehicles have been relatively problem-free as reported by car owners in our surveys, so they should keep running for a long time.

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The vehicles are ranked in order of their predicted reliability score, and all are recommended by CR. That means they scored well in our road tests, which comprise more than 50 objective and subjective evaluations. On top of that, they have key advanced safety equipment. They also performed well in government and insurance-industry crash tests if they were tested. We’ve listed them in order of their Overall Score, which is a combination of all these factors. Though we tested more expensive all-wheel-drive versions of some of these, we also recommend the less costly front-wheel-drive versions.

Some of these models have our Green Choice designation, which highlights the vehicles with the cleanest emissions.

If you’re a CR member, the list below is already available to you. But if you haven’t signed up yet, click below and become a member to access this list and all our exclusive ratings and reviews for each car we buy and test. Joining also gives you full access to exclusive ratings for the other products our experts evaluate in several categories, including electronics and home appliances.

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